Euphoria
by Couver
Summary: Wanting to throw a party because your friend has been dumped doesn't exactly mean that you're a horrible person. Right? Second of Zutara Week '13.


**AN:** No I hold absolutely no rights over the characters or world mentioned in this story. Sorry for the late addition loves, hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

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She should be feeling horrible right now, and part of her was for a completely different reason, but really she had been working hard to keep the smile off of her face since she had heard the news. Thankfully it had been her brother that had informed her of what had occurred and not Toph or Suki. While he had ranted about the injustice of it all and made plans on how he would cheer up his best friend she had cleaned up the mess that had resulted from her being surprised and hid her smile as best as she could.

It had been a letter, Sokka had quickly commented on the fact that only cowards broke up with their significant other through a letter before going into detail about the contents. Apparently the knife thrower had grown 'bored', Sokka had a particularly amusing expression when he yelled bored several times with dramatic hand gestures as if to prove Mai's apparent ridiculousness. She had also mentioned that there were no harsh feelings before she signed her name to the short letter and effectively terminated their relationship. Another yelling match between Sokka and the air had occurred over how she dared to claim that there were no harsh feelings. A glance at her overly angered brother and Katara was quite certain that he was taking the opportunity to rant about the reserved non bender for all of the annoyances she had caused him personally in the past. Now that he didn't have to worry about hurting Zuko's feelings, and more importantly being attacked by Mai, he was taking the opportunity to its fullest extent.

Katara dropped her brother off at his room after he had calmed down enough before heading to her own room with a slight skip in her walk. A squeal she didn't even know she possessed escaped her as soon as she shut the door behind her and was safely away from prying eyes. Humming happily to herself she took a shower, she practically danced around the room afterwards as she got dressed, when she walked past the mirror however she stopped in her tracks. Her outfit was the usual light weight one she always took up upon returning to the Fire Nation, the smile on her face however wasn't the one she normally reserved for times when one of her friends had, to put it bluntly, been dumped. Then again her opinion was slightly altered due to her slight, infatuation, with the friend in question.

Taking a deep breath she slowly exhaled as she attempted to remove the smile from her face; if the Ember Island Players could consider themselves to be actors then she could definitely at least meet their standard. A few deep breaths as if she were about to meditate, just as Uncle had taught her, seemed to do the trick, hopefully she would be able to count on the rest of the gang's actions to keep her distracted from her own spout of joy.

Zuko didn't show up to dinner.

His absence resulted in Sokka tossing out theories between bites of food about how ruined Zuko was because of the break up. Aang's explaination that Uncle had told him that Zuko was busy with work had of course been ignored. While Suki had thankfully been busy with talking Sokka out of finding cactus juice for Zuko, Toph had been completely free to send knowing grins to the now worried Water bender. She escaped as quickly as she could when the idea of pies somehow transformed into a battle plan.

He showed up around midnight.

Quietly he sat down beside her and leaned against the trunk of the tree before shifting slightly as he always did to find a comfortable position. She flashed him a quick smile, partially out of reflex and partially from the happiness of the news from earlier in the day, before catching herself. Unsure of how to react she settled for turning her gaze back to the pond. Although it was too late by now for the turtleducks it was perfect timing for the fireflies to be out and skimming the top of the pond.

"Uncle told me to talk to someone or he would start singing 'Four Seasons' till I felt better. I tried to tell him I was fine but he threatened me with the Tsungi Horn."

His explanation and the way he reminded her of a mother complaining about her child's energetic tendencies earned a grin from her, this time she let it remain on her lips. A glance out of the corner of her eye widened her smile when she spotted the hint of one on his own lips.

"So you're talking to me because you were threatened with a Tsungi Horn. If you fall to threats so easily I'm worried about the future of the Fire Nation."

She teased him easily and took pride in his horrible attempt at looking offended with her. A small nudge in his side and his attempt was utterly ruined.

"Technically I was threatened to talk to anyone, you just seemed to be the most normal and least likely to blackmail me. I think I need to make more friends if you're the best option."

Katara gasped slightly in shock at this, not because she took his words seriously but because he had actually made some sort of joke, a sarcastic one at that. The happiness she had felt that day only served to expand as she took in how pleased he was with his joke; it had been a long time coming after all.

"You're lucky that you have the ones that you do, you're not exactly the most social person out there Sparky, and making friends with ostrich horses does not count."

She quickly and just as playfully shot back; it was highly likely that she had been spending a bit too much time with a specific Earth bender considering her altered sense of humour. In response he stuck his tongue out and earned a loud laugh from Katara, not everyone got to see the usually quite composed Fire Lord act in such a manner. Quickly composing herself, mostly to keep from catching unwanted attention from anyone wandering nearby, she looked at him carefully, properly looking for any sign that he wasn't as fine as he claimed to be.

"Zuko, are you really ok?"

She hated the caution she could hear in her voice as if she were scared he would say that he wasn't. Teeth quickly met her bottom lip because she actually was scared of what he would say. When he glanced away from her and to the pond she bit down harder.

"Honestly, and I'm already aware that this is going to sound horrible, I just feel relieved if anything at all. After Sokka stormed out to announce my personal life to everyone the first thing that came to mind was that the noble families would probably start throwing their daughters at me and I need to find better hiding places."

Right now was the time to scold him for being so insensitive, to tease him for his fear of the young noble ladies that always inconveniently visited with their high ranking family, to hit him for alluding that Mai had served as a wall between himself and the other young nobles. Instead she shook her head lightly before resting her head on his shoulder, a familiar enough action that he wasn't too surprised by it.

"You're right," she consented, "that did sound horrible, but I'm still happy that you're ok."

Zuko allowed himself a moment of confusion before resting his head on top of hers. Maybe his Uncle had been right in pushing him to speak to someone, even if his methods had been less than appreciated.

"Thought of any good hiding spots?"

She broke the silence after a while, the lazily flying fireflies were almost hypnotic in their movements and falling asleep would not be a smart thing to do at the moment. He startled slightly at her voice but didn't remove his head from its perch.

"Actually," he drawled out slightly second guessing himself, "I was thinking about an abandoned villa outside of the city near the water. The family that owned it is gone so it technically belongs to the Royal family. I'm not really sure what would be required but it could probably be turned into a hospital, if I can find the right people for the project of course."

With her head trapped under his she could only twist it slightly before he raised his own to allow her the freedom to look at him properly. Wearing an expression of hope and caution, similar to that of a child being tempted with an elusive treat, she quickly cracked a smile when she spotted the truth behind his cautious offer. Her arms swung around his neck as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Of course this will only work if I can use it as a hiding place."

He could feel her laugh at his words and the fact that he had been the cause behind it made him smile.

"No seriously, it would be a perfect hiding place, and if they did come I could claim that there's a disease they might catch."

Lifting her head back up but leaving her arms where they were she shook her head at his antics.

"Don't worry Zuko; I'll protect you from the noble ladies."

The slight alteration of his own words didn't go by unnoticed and neither did Katara's smug grin at being able to use them against him. Instead of claiming her words as his own, which had honestly become embarrassing about as soon as he had said them, he simply allowed her to return them to their previous position with his head once more resting upon hers. He didn't react when she dug her head in closer to the crook of his neck; in turn she didn't even bat an eye when he shifted closer to her. Her eyes darted from her hand to his and before the rational part of her mind could take over she reached out and took his hand in hers. She held her breath as an excuse or two started to form in her head; she could claim that she was cold, or tired, or that she was just being a good friend, maybe she could tell him that-, oh. Katara's eyes darted back to their hands that were now interlaced due to one quick movement from the Fire Lord beside her. A quick squeeze of her hand and she remembered that she was supposed to breath, that she was allowed to smile, and that she didn't have to feel guilty over the absolute euphoria she felt over the fact that Zuko had been dumped.

Break ups, both of them decided silently by themselves, could lead to ridiculously happy moments.


End file.
